Thursday, September 15, 2022
Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Stabat mater dolorosa
One day I say feelings don’t matter much, but then a day or two later they seem to matter more than anything. It’s the heavy ones that hurt. In my counseling office the feeling wheel offers three positives on the bottom of the wheel (peaceful, powerful, joyful) and three negatives on the top (mad, sad and scared). Put even simpler, the basic feelings are mad, sad, glad, and scared.
Scared breaks into twelve parts: confused, rejected, helpless, submissive, insecure, anxious, bewildered, discouraged, insignificant, inadequate, embarrassed, and overwhelmed.
Or all of that: just scared.
That feeling fades, like all feelings fade. But when it’s on me it’s like a snakeskin. It’s part of me. I forget to breathe and can’t stop sweating.
In Blue Genes, Paul Meier (of Minerth-Meier Clinics) describes the four neurotransmitters that control so much of our lives: serotonin, dopamine, GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) and norepinephrine.
These four chemicals are responsible for influencing your ability to experience love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, humility, energy, motivation, memorization, concentration, a positive attitude, self-acceptance, your dreams, and sanity itself.
What happens when a person’s genes or other factors result in brain chemical abnormalities? Problems include depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, panic attacks, substance abuse, ADHD, psychosis, low self-esteem, and inability to get along with others. Millions of people in our society are predisposed to these and other difficulties, thanks in part to their “blue genes.”
Praying the Rosary allows us to consider four sets of Mysteries in the Life of Jesus Christ: the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries. Today’s Memorial remembers Mary experiencing the Sorrowful Mysteries alongside her son:
The Agony in the Garden
The Scourging at the Pillar
The Crowning with Thorns
The Carrying of the Cross
The Crucifixion and Death of our Lord.
Seeing this from God’s point of view (more or less) lets me receive the fruit of each sorrow: faith, hope, love, union and perseverance.
And when my neurotransmitters are working well, this all makes sense. Praying the Rosary can enrich and ennoble my life. I can become more generous, more loving and more faithful. My faith in God’s presence grows.
When I can catch my breath and breathe deep, I feel different. Not scared, but available to God, more courageous, and more at peace.
This happiness waits always for me. It is not just around the bend. It’s right in front of me. Oh God, give me eyes to see.
(1 Corinthians 15, Psalm 118, John 19, Luke 2, Stabat Mater “the sorrowful mother was standing …)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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